Spring, Winter, Summer, Fall
by Thistlescratch
Summary: Kaoru, a missionary with religious fervor to spare, is sent to the borders of civilization with her best friend Misao. There, they are kidnapped by the very heretics they were sent to quell, but, all propaganda aside, who are these Seasonal Mages?
1. Chapter 1

Author's Notes: As much as I love him, I don't own Rurouni Kenshin, or any of his good buddies from the Meiji. All hail Watsuki-sama!

Kaoru rolled out of bed, dragging her blankets with her and knocking her wrist against the corner of her end table before smacking to the wooden floor with a "thump" and a "mou!" It had been another bad night.

She was an apprentice Banisher, and rapidly approaching her graduation into the league of vigilantes that ensured the safety of their kingdom against the wild and unpredictable Seasonal Mages. Bright light poured through the thin curtains of her dormitory window, and she could already hear the younger girls in her wing being ushered to breakfast. Grumbling to herself about the early hour (though the water clock at the end of the hall was set to chime in five minutes), Kaoru set to brushing through the thick mass of tangles that was her hair, shooting dirty looks at her roommate, who was still snoring away under her blankets, with only the tip of her nose and the tail end of her long braid peaking out from beneath the heavy wool. She slept on as Kaoru sorted through her thick mane, braiding it back and pinning it up, and then through the loud gong of the clock. She overslept for exactly five minutes, when she vaulted out of bed, black braid snapping behind her like a whip. She began to struggle into the long, loose and ugly grey gown that was the twin of Kaoru's, thanking her lucky stars under her breath that her hair was already braided.

"Do you really have to do this every morning, Misao?" Kaoru snapped, rising from her watery mirror and jamming her feet into the 'sensible shoes' that were required by the Academy. Misao just ignored Kaoru and breezed through the door as she did every morning. According to Misao, Kaoru wasn't worth speaking to until she had her breakfast. Kaoru followed her slowly, snatching a pile of papers off the corner of her desk.

The lines had been struggled through, breakfast had been grabbed and wolfed, and Kaoru was finally awake enough to talk without grouching. Misao glanced at the hourglass counting down the minutes until classes started and swore.

"Crap! I forgot my papers in the room and we're tutoring the first year class today!" Misao was beginning to knock her head against the tabletop when Kaoru slid a sheaf of papers in front of her.

"Mi-chan, what would you do without me?" Kaoru's eyes glinted playfully as she teased her best friend, and Misao, who, having resigned herself to the teasing after forgetting her papers, simply smiled. As they forced their way upstream through the crowds of boys on their way to breakfast, she continued. "Now, the question remains—How exactly are we going to settle down a bunch of ten-year-olds so we can try to force the most basic of history into their little heads?"

"Oh, goody," Misao muttered. "So do we give them the most paranoid, addle-pated theories of the High Priests or do we corrupt their _darling_ little minds with something closer to the truth?"

"Mi!" Kaoru half-shrieked, "Are you telling me you don't believe what the priests say about the Doctrine?"

Misao sighed. Kaoru came from a conservative family, and the Academy hadn't made her any more open-minded.

"Never mind, Kao…You just start the lesson and I'll follow your lead,"

"C'mon, kids, pay attention!" Misao chirped, bouncing on her heels in front of a class of noisy ten-year-olds, who, recognizing their favorite teachers, settled down quickly. "Now, today Mistress Kaoru and I are going to teach you some very important things, and I want you to pay very close attention. There's going to be a test," she added in a stage whisper, eliciting a few giggles from the braver students.

"What we'll be teaching you, you might already know. These are old, old stories, and some of you might have heard them from your parents or grandparents, or even from the Doctrine Leaders,"

"I'm sure you know all about the Doctrine, the sacred list of everything that is, has been and will be, and how it both listed and created everything at the moment of creation, as well as the Gift that the Doctrine gave us when we were created, the supreme beings of creation and custodians of the world: Deltography. Though many people think of this as magic, we of the Academy and the Priests all know that it is simply the act of minutely changing the laws of the universe to do good works for the Doctrine's sake. We're not here to just talk about Deltography, though—we're here to talk about those who misuse the great gift of Deltography: the Seasonal Mages,"

"When the world was young, it was perfect, and humanity prospered a flourished. There were no seasons, but it was always the perfect temperature for growing crops and raising animals. Night and day were equal, and there was no change in the seasons; it was always perfect for growing crops, and humanity prospered." Kaoru's voice took on a dreamy quality as she described the perfection of the beginning of the world, but suddenly her voice grew harsh and ugly with anger.

"There was, however, a group of greedy, lazy people who grew bored with the way the Doctrine had created the world for us. They decided to change things to make them more 'interesting'. These people were gifted with the power of Deltography, and should have been more pious, because that greatest gift is the power to change the shape of the Doctrine minutely to heal the sick or defend the innocent, or other noble goals," The idealistic girl's voice grew thick with scorn, as if she disdained to even speak of the blasphemers from so long ago, her face slowly turning red with anger. By now, all the whispering among the students had stopped, in awe and fear of their beloved teacher's transformation.

"They sought to change the world 'for the better' by ignoring what the Doctrine had already put in place for us. In their supreme arrogance, they strove to introduce 'variety' into our world, never thinking of the consequences. A great group of the heretics assembled, convincing themselves of their own holiness, and brought their powers together as a whole to corrupt the entirety of the world for always. What they did was a most heinous crime, and many innocent people suffered and died because of it!" Kaoru was shaking with her rage, hands clenched into such tight fists that her fingernails had dug into the skin of her palms, adding what would be yet another set of crescent-shaped scars. The children were dead silent, staring up at their teacher with wide, frightened eyes. Misao, who had been standing in a corner of the room the entire time, chewing on a knuckle and repeating her order of non-interference (from the Dean himself!) over and over like a mantra, finally stirred into action, taking Kaoru firmly by the shoulders and leading her to a chair in the corner and smoothing the disheveled hair away from her face. Once she was sure Kaoru was calm enough to be left alone for a moment, she turned to the children in the room. One of them, more sure of himself with this calmer teacher, spoke up in a high, thin voice.

"But…Mistress Misao…what exactly did they do?" Misao sighed, nudging her own hair back out of her face and looked tiredly at the class.

"They tilted the world on its axis, away from the perfect symmetry of the Doctrine, and caused the seasons to change. The descendants of those people are the Seasonal Mages of today. Class dismissed,"


	2. Chapter 2

I pray faithfully to Hiko every night, but Rurouni Kenshin still isn't mine.

Misao left Kaoru to sleep off her little panic attack in their room and trudged up the long staircase to the Dean's office, cursing softly enough to escape punishment as the coarse grey wool tangled up in her legs. After Kaoru's 'performance' for the first-years, she would have to make yet another report on her partner and charge, something she always hated doing. When she was finally at the top of the stairs, she knocked briskly on the dark oak door, then, casually letting herself in, dropped down into a chair in front of the Dean's imposing desk with a sigh.

_Now remember, Makimachi, you're sweet, earnest, and as slow as a cow,_ she thought fiercely. It would not do for the Dean to realize who she really was. Her mask was firmly in place by the time the old man looked up from his paperwork and looked down his nose at her.

"So what brings you here this time, Miss Makimachi? From the look on your face it can't be anything good," he said affably. He liked to think of himself as a kindly, old father figure to the students in his academy, and he looked the part. He was a solid man, well padded from years of fine dinners and snifters of brandy, with sparse white hair haloing his head. His deep-set eyes were heavy with wrinkles, but a cunning intelligence, slightly dulled by long and easy years, still shone out from the depths.

"I'm afraid not, Sir," she replied, simpering and looking up at the old man with wide, earnest eyes. "Kaoru-chan had another of her little episodes, and this time it was right in front of an entire first-year class that we were teaching together. I just barely got her calmed down, and the poor kids! They were so scared!" She toyed nervously with the end of her long braid, then seemed to realize what she was doing and quickly sat on her hands. The Dean began to write up another one of his reports, presumably on Kaoru. "…Sir?" she asked hesitantly. The Dean looked up, slightly disgruntled by the interruption. "Sir, is it possible that Kaoru's faith is a little too…single-minded? I know she's on the field-agent track, and that she's almost as strong as Deltographers come, but she is so easily upset and I just get so worried about her…" Misao trailed off lamely.

"You're a smart girl, Miss Makimachi, and here in the administration we have come to generally the same conclusions as you. We can't, however, afford to lose an agent as strong as Kaoru, so we've decided upon an alternate plan. You, Miss Makimachi, will accompany Miss Kamiya on all her operations to…how shall I put this?—to help her maintain her equilibrium. Do you think yourself equal to the task?"

Misao beamed. The old man was a god-send, even though he didn't know it. She thought she was going to have a tough time tracking Kaoru down on her first mission once they both graduated, but this was playing right into her hands! She found herself answering the old headmaster without hesitation, and though it wasn't entirely in character with Misao's timid, slow school-character, he interpreted her enthusiasm as girlish high spirits. "I only have one question, Sir. Where will we be assigned first?"

Though his voice was gruff, she sensed a silent approval of her 'courage'. She took it as a compliment on her acting abilities. "Your first assignment will be in Thorse, near the capital, where you can call for backup if you need it. You and Kaoru will need to infiltrate a group that meets in the Mirror Club. They are a group of burgeoning heretics. Though we don't believe that they have any connections to the Seasonal Mages, I would use caution. This is, after all, your first assignment. Cause chaos within their ranks and expose them to the public eye, local law enforcement can take care of things from there. I expect you back within a year of your graduation. I know it's a bit irregular, informing you of your assignment before graduation, but you're a level-headed young woman, and I know I can trust you to keep this quiet until you've graduated. Is everything clear?"

"Oh, yes sir!" she gushed. "I know that you'll be pleased with my work. Thank you so much!" and she scurried out of the office before she could burst out laughing at her good luck.

Graduation was over, the parties had been long-since quelled by the dormitory mothers, and Kaoru and Misao were spending their last night in the Spartan room they had lived in for the past three years. As they were lying in their beds in the day, Kaoru spoke up.

"Misao, are you awake?"

"Mmhmm…" she replied sleepily.

"Mi…this is our last night together, isn't it? I mean, after this, we'll be off on our missions and we'll never see each other again…" Her voice was wistful and sad, with a dangerous undercurrent of self-pity. Misao, however, was instantly alert. This was the perfect opening for what she had learned in the Dean's office.

"Actually, Kao…we're assigned together. The Dean told me last week, but made me swear not to tell you until after graduation," Misao said, rolling over to face her friend. Though the room was almost totally dark, a stray puddle of moonlight showed Kaoru's ecstatic face, and Misao worried for a minute about how dependant her friend must be on her. Without any other friends and a family that was tolerable at best…Well, all that would change soon.

"But they never assign agents together…why is it that they did that with us?" Kaoru mused. "Not that I'm complaining, of course," she tacked on hastily. Misao winced internally. This is where the lying started, and she hated lying to her best friend, even if it was necessary.

"I think it's because they're sending us into the fray right away and want us to have fast backup. We're all the way out in Verlassbrun, near the boarder. There's apparently a group of heretics that have been trying to contact the Seasonal Mages for assistance. They haven't managed it yet, but we need to get out there soon and disrupt their operations before they do. Now, I know you're hot stuff when it comes to Delting, but maybe I'll be some help?" With a daredevil gleam in her eye, the young woman reached out to take her best friends hand, clasping it tightly.

"Mi," Kaoru choked out around the lump forming in her throat, "Thank you. I'd rather be working with you than doing anything else in the world. I mean, I thought we'd have more time before we got out into the real world, but…"

"But what?" Misao chirped, loathing herself for deceiving the friend who trusted her absolutely. _Aoshi-sama asked me to do this. I'm the only one who can, and he's depending on me. Everyone's depending on me. And if I'm going to be a real spy like Aoshi, I'm going to have to lie and cheat and trick people. I just wish it wasn't my best friend…_ "We'll be fine—the Dean trusts us enough to let us out on our own, doesn't he?" Kaoru had a great respect for authority figures, and Misao was manipulating it shamelessly.

"So you think we'll be all right?" Kaoru was still slightly nervous. _Well, she does have a right to be. After all, what we've got planned is gonna be a shock to her system…_

"Kaoru, we are going to be better than all right. We're gonna be legends in our own time, just with this one mission, even! People are going to be talking about us for years to come!" _And honey, you don't know how right I am…_ "Anyway, I grabbed our travel allowance earlier, so we can start out bright and early. You know how uncomfortable those train compartments can be, so we better get to sleep now,"

They spoke a little longer, mostly about what they were leaving behind and what they were looking forward to, eventually lapsing into silence. It wasn't long before Misao, lying in her own bed, could hear the deep breathing and soft snoring of her friend, but between excitement and guilt, it was a long time before she slept.

AN: All right! Second chapter up, and I've got most of the backlog of what I've written before worked through. I'm probably rubbing some people the wrong way by making Kaoru a religious fundamentalist, but the way I see it, her idealism could have been perverted early on in the wrong kind of family. Don't worry, she'll get better. Misao's a good influence. Anyway, next chapter: Confrontation! Bwahahaha…


	3. Chapter 3

I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. Bugger.

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Aoshi was tense. This in itself was not unusual; he was very often tense, but this time was different. He was strung as tight as a piano wire, and Megumi, observing him from across the breakfast table, suspected that any lesser man would have been shaking under the strain. Normally, as the resident healer, she would have administered something to calm him, but after receiving the telegram from Misao late last night, they needed him at his sharpest and drugs tending to affect his joint powers of thought and magic badly. The train was due to arrive in three hours time, and Misao (being her usual impetuous self) had demanded a few hours after that to obtain needed supplies. Hopefully the strain wouldn't kill their spymaster-general by then.

"Good morning, Megumi," a lazy baritone purred out behind her. She thought she contained her little start of surprise quite well, but apparently he thought otherwise. "You know, you really shouldn't sit with your back to doors if that's the reaction you're going to have,"

She chose to ignore this. After all, she didn't expect him to more about healing than how to apply a tourniquet, so why should she be his equal at detecting threats? Looking back over at Aoshi, she decided that it was her duty as a physician to at least try to break him out of his reverie.

"Aoshi? About the telegram—where exactly is the intercept point?" Her voice was light and unconcerned, but he looked up immediately, eyes as intense as always. Trust anything involving Misao to get his attention; he doted on his little protégée, and had missed her terribly these last three years. The occasional letter or telegram just didn't do her bubbly personality justice.

"I'm meeting up with her outside the Temple gates, she'll lead me to where she left Kaoru. Misao and I are the only ones necessary for the pick up, so we'll be the only ones going. I don't want to overwhelm this girl right away if we're supposed to undo years of programming. Can I count on your healing to make her more…receptive?"

The young spymaster spoke in what was almost a monotone, but Megumi thought she detected a spark of life that hadn't been in his eyes before today.

_He really does shut down when Misao's not around,_ she thought, nodding in response to the second-in-command's question. "As much as I hate to use it, opium would be the best drug to send her into the trance that we'll need to undo the brainwashing," Her tone was dull as she thought of using that hated drug. "You promise me that you'll only be undoing the damage? I won't, I simply won't, allow you to do anything to that girl that would cloud her thoughts further. Her mind has been abused so badly that our duty is to heal it, not hurt it further," Her tone was sharp and her cinnamon eyes knife-edged as she defended her soon-to-be-patient. The spymaster remained emotionless, face schooled to an icy mask, inclining his head a fraction of an inch to show he had heard her.

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Kaoru stepped out onto the city street, her new high-heel boots sending up puffs of dist into the richly colored hem of her new dress. Summer-weight linen of royal blue hugged her gentle curves and the high neck brushed against her throat. She felt vaguely guilty about wasting money on such a dress; the Dean wouldn't approve of the expense, would he? But it satisfied a hunger for beautiful things that had been ignored through the long years of her schooling. Looking around for Misao, she was struck by the differences between this city and the capital. Here there were trees and plants everywhere, as if the forest had invaded and conquered the town. The capital was its opposite, all carven out of grand white stone. _It's…rather nice, isn't it? With the trees and the nice green scent, you can really tell that it's sum—_she banished that thought quickly. It wouldn't do to appreciate something like the change of seasons. Why, that was nearly heretical! Kaoru's breathing quickened imperceptibly in panic as she leaned against the whitewashed wall of the store. _I _can't _commit heresies, not even in thought…not if I want to stay out of the Void when I die. _She squeezed her eyes shut, blocking out the leafy boughs and flowerbed. _The Doctrine sees all, the Doctrine knows all, the Doctrine made all. Praises be unto the Doctrine for the World and the Word, _she repeated in her head, trying to find the comfort she knew there should be in the familiar phrases. Didn't the holy Speakers at the Academy always say to find comfort in the Doctrine? She was trying, she really was…She just wasn't good enough. Not yet, but she would be. She _had_ to be, she didn't want to be suspended forever in the darkness and cold of the Void…

A hand touched her arm, gently and hesitantly, almost afraid to startle her out of her trance of self-loathing.

"Kaoru? Kaoru…I'm sorry…" Misao's voice was soft and full of grief, but the tall stranger beside her had no expression on his handsome face. Misao was still whispering, but she didn't understand at first. "…forgive me…" She was going to say 'forgive you for what?', but before she could get it out, before she could even wonder at the strange man beside her friend, something inside of her snapped shut, and her mouth wasn't her own anymore. She wanted her eyes to widen in surprise, her body to flinch away from the stranger, but they weren't hers anymore either. In fact, she found herself pulling forward and linking arms with the man. Her voice greeted him as if he were a long lost brother, and with long, swinging strides that matched his, she walked on his arm through the town and through the door of a nondescript wooden house. Her mind never stopped screaming and cursing both the man and the girl she had thought was her friend.

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Kenshin, at that moment, envied his spymaster. Both of them were men of action, as clichéd as it was, and while his second-in-command was out procuring...no. Might as well call it was it was. While his second-in-command was out kidnapping their new recruit, he had to sit at home and wait. He thought was going to crawl out of his skin, and if the dual pressures of needing to be alert soon and his aversion to drugs hadn't forced his hand, he would have seriously considered asking Megumi to dose him up with something. Instead, here he was, pacing the confines of his small room, his thoughts racing a mile a minute and going nowhere. The girl was going to arrive today; the girl they needed so badly. How was it exactly that they had managed to lose every last one of their effective Summer mages over the last few years? Hell, the most powerful two had died before Enishi had come on the scene. Dark shame clawed up out of his subconscious as he remembered the death of his compatriots. He was their commander, he should have sent them with more firepower, should have sent more people with them, shouldn't have sent them in the first place. Those women hadn't deserved to die on the front lines…

His dark thoughts were interrupted as he heard the door slam shut and felt the wards of silence Aoshi had put in place snap closed. By then he had raced out of his room as if trying to escape thoughts of the past and vaulted over the banister at the base of the stairs. He came face to face with an enchantingly beautiful girl. Her panicked breathing was doing interesting things to her chest, even within the confines of her modest dress, and her eyes, though wide with fear and flashing with anger were a spectacular shade of blue. While a thoroughly masculine part of him was sizing this all up (and liking what it saw), the calm detachment of a military commander was eyeing the power he felt pulsing through this chit of a girl. She was definitely a Summer, and so strong he would have sworn he felt the heat and humidity of August assaulting his skin. Her eyes blazed angrily up at his appraising expression, and though she had been frozen in place by the power of his Winter mage, it seemed as if she was instinctively struggling against the barriers that held her. His conscience fidgeted uncomfortably for a minute, but he quashed the feeling roughly. They needed this girl…and they were doing her a favor, really. No one should have to live with the fear and guilt that the Orthodoxy instilled into their followers.

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AN: Well, I think I'm doing pretty well with the whole "frequent updates" thing, but I'm still working on chapter length. Hopefully that'll pick up, because I'm sure working hard on it. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and, if you're feeling charitable, review!


	4. Chapter 4

AN: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin, and that's probably a good thing.

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This…wasn't what she had been led to expect. Though the panicked catch in her breath and the slight tremor in her hands were still pressing in on her, her surrounding gave her no excuse to have them. Instead of a dank cellar or dungeon, she was in a comfortably appointed study, lined with full bookshelves and painted a rich oxblood color. Really, it reminded her of nothing so much as the Dean's office back at the Academy. If only the people were more like her teachers! She huddled in on herself, assaulted from all sides by the mere presence of so many Seasonal Mages. The tall, icy stranger that had kidnapped her in the street was standing next to Misao, one long arm around her thin shoulders. She wanted to cry out and warn her friend, tell her to run and leave her behind, but the adoring expression on the face of her friend as she gazed at the Mage stopped her. Realization hit her like a thunderbolt—Misao must be one of them. Nausea and anger flooded her body. She had been deceived! She, the flower of the Academy, their finest student and brightest hope had been tricked and snared by a spy for the Seasonal Mages.

And while part of her thought that, a smaller, pathetic, fearful part of her could only watch in dumb sadness. At first that hidden part of her soul had scrambled for excuses—maybe Misao was still enchanted, just as she had been, maybe Misao didn't know who these people were, maybe…

But it had all fallen flat. She had been betrayed, and, in this small corner of her soul, she didn't feel the black wrath she knew she probably should. She just felt lonely and sad and tired. _Serves me right for trusting someone,_ she thought. That other part of her continued to scream in frustration, cursing them for maintaining the block on her Deltography—she should rain fire and ice down from the heavens, rip the room apart with winds, and salt the earth on which it stood—but she couldn't. The frigid bastard was holding a block on her memories, and she couldn't even remember the first of the fire-calling cantrips. _Still_, she thought, _it's a good thing, really. I couldn't bear to do that to Misao, no matter what she's done to me. I hope they kill me quickly_. She looked dully around the room, wanting to at least know her killer's faces before she died. The closest was the short, red-haired one. He was still holding her arm looped through his, and his touch made her shudder. His eyes wouldn't stay the same color, with amber and amethyst swirling around and around. An ugly scar marred his cheek, slashing it into an 'X', and though he had affected a dopey expression, she thought she could see something dark and predatory in his smile. _I bet he's not even a Mage…he looks more like a demon…_

She tried to pull away, but his arm was as hard as a rock, and he had a strong grip on her hand. _Well, I'll get no mercy from him, and that's for sure…_

He was continuing to murmur softly to her, the words meaningless in her state of rising panic. Did they want to interrogate her, steal the secrets of Deltography they thought she possessed? The angry part of her, the part she had always thought the best of, was still ranting on about final stands and death coming before dishonor and honoring the proud traditions of the martyrs of the Orthodoxy, as if somehow she could will herself dead. She was beginning to be faintly annoyed with herself, if that wasn't a sign of madness emerging.

Kaoru continued to look around the room as she was lead to sit in a leather chair by a heavy desk. She wanted to distract herself from what she feared was a rising tide of angry insanity. The tall man and Misao were by now deeply engaged in soft conversation, it looked like she was briefing him on something. It just depressed Kaoru to think that her only friend had been bought body and soul by these maniacs, so she looked toward the door. A beautiful woman was just passing through it, followed by a scruffy looking man. He was carrying a heavy briefcase for her, but whatever points he might have gotten with Kaoru for chivalry were cancelled out by the hungry looks he was giving her when she wasn't watching. The woman, unfortunately, was oblivious as she instructed him to place the briefcase on the table. Cold fear clenched in Kaoru's stomach, and she fought down a rising tide of nausea, but, for the first time in the presence of her captors, she found her voice.

"What…what do you want with me?" Her voice was pathetically weak, but it was loud enough to be heard by the stupid-looking demon. It didn't help her already battered self-esteem when he grinned ruefully.

"Ah…I suppose we haven't really explained any of this thoroughly, have we?" His eyes had settled on violet, for the moment, and he genuinely looked kind. Kaoru would have trusted him instinctively if he hadn't been a thrice-damned Seasonal Mage. "As you've probably guessed, yes, we're Seasonal Mages. Really, though, we're not as bad as you think we are. We don't eat babies, and before you ask, no, I don't dye my hair with blood," Something that flickered in his eyes suggested that just that had been suggested. "I've never even single-handedly destroyed a minor municipality and its population down to the beasts of the fields, then salted the earth on which it once stood. Shameful, really…" The flicker in his eyes had turned into a twinkle. Kaoru was disgusted. Was he trying to sweet-talk her while preparing her to torture her for information after he had kidnapped her? That little part of her that wasn't so quick to judge, however, chuckled at the bitter irony that kidnapping was the only way she could get a man interested in her. She might have even said this, against her better judgment, if the increasingly furious half of her soul wasn't drowning out anything else she would have liked to say. "Now, if you would kindly sit here?" he asked politely, forcing her to comply with an absurd gentleness.

She screwed up what little courage she had, feeling as if she had to make an effort. That wrathful voice was still ranting. It had begun to repeat itself, and was sounding rather tinny. She was just so tired… "I'll never talk, you know. Never!" She jerked her chin up, catching the full force of his eyes with her own. Unnervingly, the violet had disappeared completely and she was looking straight into hungry gold. The force of his gaze began to burn as he chuckled.

"Don't worry, little one. We're not interested in what you could tell us," She was faintly insulted. "You're here for treatment, not for interrogation. I'll even tell you one of our secrets—we're not after the Orthodoxy. I don't give a damn what you do with your own people as long as you don't move into my territory. What we want you for," he said, ruffling her hair condescendingly, "Is an internal struggle against one crazy son-of-a-bitch," He looked over his shoulder at the lovely woman with the briefcase. "Megumi, the syringe?"

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As the opium slid into her bloodstream, Kaoru's eyes lost their wild look, her rigid posture relaxed, and she slumped lazily back into the deep green leather of the chair. Her pupils dilated hugely, and a rather stupid looking grin spread across her face. Her eyes continued to wander around the room until they finally returned to the face of her 'demonic' captor.

"You're evil," she stated bluntly, her blue eyes guileless. "I bet you're not even a Mage at all. Are you a demon?" she tilted her head to the side inquisitively, her now-unbound hand reaching up to stroke a lock of his long red hair and missing. A genuinely gentle smile tilted the corners of Kenshin's mouth, and he caught the hand just as it was starting to drop, quickly weaving his Autumnal powers of trickery and illusion into a dreamlike trance that caught both of them up, leading them to a strange, internal place where he might be able to convince her to side with them.

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Kaoru was sitting under a tree in a beautiful glade. Soft, emerald moss cushioned her, and tiny blue flowers were scattered across the forest floor. It was a hot day, but neither humid nor sticky, and she felt more comfortable leaning up against that tree than she did in most chairs. The sky up above was clear and achingly blue, and a soft breeze cooled her skin and turned the patter of leaves and branches into subtle music like the sighing of the ocean. She stretched, sighing in contentment, then noted with astonishment that her arms were uncovered. She would never wear a dress so immodest! But…it was very comfortable, and the little inner voice that usually derided her for disobeying any of the Orthodoxy's commands was strangely silent. She poked about a bit in her own consciousness, feeling for that wrathful part of herself and couldn't find anything, even when she (in a purely experimental mindset) tried thinking something positive about the Seasonal Mages. It was strange, though…when she was in that endeavor, the phrase "yummy redhead" kept popping up.

The balmy temperature and the very solitude of the place made any serious worrying about either Mages (yummy or not) or even how she had gotten to this idyllic glade in the first place seem unreasonably cerebral, and her eyelids were just beginning to droop shut when a much colder breeze, scented with woodsmoke and ginger pulled her to attention once again. It was that bloody demon-man! The cool breeze seemed to be swirling around him only branching out and teasing her as he moved closer. What right had he to invade this place, which was so obviously hers? The disappointment must have showed on her face as he seated himself beside her and flopped onto his back in the sun-warmed moss, because he gave her a sardonic grin and chuckled.

"I know I'm not your favorite person just now, but could you find it in your heart to listen to me for just a bit? I promise, if I say any untruth—and you can ask Misao later just what is true and what is false—then we'll leave you, you can go back to the Academy and continue with the life you were leading before now," He looked at her hopefully. Kaoru only favored him with the level glare she had practiced for so long on her tutoring days. He sighed. "Well, that's as close to a yes as I'm going to get, isn't it?" The redheaded mage waited for her answer, but when none was forthcoming, he plowed on ahead. "We might as well get this over with. The sooner you make your decision, the sooner we can each get on with our respective lives. I will try to make this clear and to the point, I promise.

"We are Seasonal Mages, but really the people you saw back in the house are only a small group, and part of a larger tribe. The group I have with me are just the people that I trust unconditionally," he paused for a moment, as if mulling over his next words and looking up at the clear sky.

"I guess I better explain a bit more about how we work and who we are…I bet you've only gotten the nastiest propaganda available," he said lightly, with just a hint of a self-deprecating laugh in his voice. "For starters, we Mages are always Seasonally aligned, that's where we get all our…special abilities. Which abilities we get are also determined by the Season that claims us. There's Winter—that's tight control of yourself and your surroundings, even the people around you. Minds, bodies, and to some extent, hearts, all can fall under the sway of a Winter master. Many people even consider them to be the most dangerous of all the Seasonals; they're certainly the most insidious," He looked over at her, trying to judge her reaction to all of this. Though she had been wearing a look of keen interest just a minute earlier (information this specific was exceedingly hard to find anywhere in the Academy), when she saw him looking she schooled her features into a mask of indifference. It wouldn't do to let him know how curious she was. He continued haltingly, as if embarrassed. "Aoshi…that's the tall man who…" he paused, searching for a way to describe her kidnapping without offending her. "He's the man who helped bring you in. He's a Winter master, and his powers of control are how he helped catch you. I don't suppose it could be consider a point in our favor that he only controlled your body, could it? He could have taken your mind as well, made you believe that this is what you wanted. We…I wanted to give you the right of choice," he shook himself slightly, trying to draw the conversation away from a discussion of his own failings.

"Your friend Misao—and she's still your friend. Every briefing she gave us, she told us how guilty she felt, deceiving you like she did. You'll need to talk with her later, I'm sure…anyway, Misao is Spring-aligned. Spring mages tend to be…well, a bit eclectic. You can't expect anything of them, and they're always surprising even the people they know best with something new. I've never actually known another Spring-mage that was a spy, but I blame it on Aoshi's early and corrupting influence," He shot her a grin designed to melt bones and inhibitions. She returned fire with a blank stare until he withered slightly.

"That brings us to Summer, I guess…Summer mages can be a mixed bag, too, but they generally fall into a few categories. Healers are common among Summer mages, and there's a good deal of earth-based magic that goes with being Summer-aligned, but every once in a while there's a Warrior hidden among them. Of course, they're rare, and you probably don't want to hear about something like that…" he trailed off, looking up at the sky in apparent contentment.

"W…wait! You can't just say something like that and then not explain!" Kaoru fumed. This was _interesting_, dammit, and she couldn't learn anything like this in the Academy library. And then, just when his words were starting to really strike a chord with her the infuriating little man just stops! She could throttle him, she really could…But just as her fingers were tensing and she was ready to storm away through the trees, he responded.

"It's funny, you know…you get Warriors of both genders from the other Seasons, but from Summer, the Warriors are almost always women," He said this nonchalantly, as if it were the price of tea in the market place, but Kaoru was staring at him with wild eyes. Something about his words, his phrases, had caught her utmost attention and held it tight. There was something very important about Summer Warriors, and she needed to find out about it right now.

"These Summer Warriors…how can you tell who they are? Do they look alike, or are they marked from birth or something?"

"Well…" The hateful little man drew out the word, dawdling (on purpose she was sure) to draw out the suspense of the moment. "I'm not one, obviously…but from the one Summer Warrior I've ever spoken with, they generally find out who they are just about when they're needed, or when they find their right teacher," he shrugged. "Anyway, you probably don't want to hear any more about that. It's so esoteric that most mages don't really bother too much. Did you have any other questions?" At first, nothing came to mind (at least, nothing not related to these strange Summer Warriors…), but eventually a question so obvious that she should have thought of it sooner came to mind.

"Umm…Where are we, exactly? The last thing I remember is the syringe, and…" she trailed off, wondering if she was going crazy.

"Oh, that…We're in your subconscious mind, or at least a place modeled on it. I needed to talk to you here because of some thought-compulsion placed on you by your precious Academy and this was the easiest way to work around it without removing it. Who knows, you might want to keep it…Anyway, to get out of here, just concentrate on the study where you were before. I'm heading back—why don't you think over what I've just told you?"

His tone had been light and playful, but with a note of melancholy and worry in his voice. She was still wondering what exactly he meant and what she was going to do with herself here when he reluctantly stood, brushing the loose pieces of grass off of his shirt and winking out of existence in just a few seconds. Kaoru stayed in her glade for another long moment, staring at a single leaf that had fallen into the hollow where Kenshin had lain. It was the same brilliant scarlet as his hair.

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AN: Aaaugh! pounds head against desk I wanted to get this up a week ago, I really did. What happened is this: I'm with my family on Malta (more information on my author profile) and spring break time came around. We were all up on Malta's sister island Gozo, without any internet access of any kind. Since my parents don't exactly approve of fanfic writing or reading, I couldn't exactly ask for time in an internet café to post this. Gomen, and more up soon.

P.S. I do in no way condone the use of opium or other drugs to induce trance states. I'm not even sure that this would work. Like I said, I was away from the 'net while I wrote this, the opium bit is more of an homage to Megumi-san's past in the manga. Drugs are bad, kids!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin, but the Seasonal Mages are all mine, Precioussss! gurgle, gurgle

"...and I think the Dean may be planning some sort of attack near the border. I'm sorry I can't give you any more information, Aoshi-sama, but that man's security has to be at least equal to their government's. Of course, that sets off red flags about what he may be planning, but I can't give you any more details," Misao reported with a brisk efficiency that belied her years and appearance. Her lithe form was still wrapped in the deep green dress she had purchased on the road, but it was travel-stained and the heavy cloth and cut of it did not flatter the fine lines of her body.

_But for all of that, you can still tell she's grown... _Aoshi thought. He shoved the thought away as soon as it flitted through his mind. Misao would always be his student and his fosterling. She had shown up near one of their camps, a mewling ball of an infant, and since it was common enough for the local people of this area to give up their children to the forest's whims if they showed any sign of mage-power, they had taken her in. A few years later, when she was just reaching seven, their investment paid off—she started to show the powers of a Spring-mage. It had started out with small things; toys gone missing from the other children, treats disappearing from well-guarded trays in the kitchens, and little Misao running around with berry-pie all over her face even though she had been nowhere near the kitchens. Though it wasn't a common set of skills for a Spring-mage to have, they were always unpredictable, and if they could train her properly, she would be quite useful. Though they had all been part of a larger group then, with other Spring-mages around to teach her, but somehow the responsibility had fallen to Aoshi. It might have been because he was the spy-master, and her abilities were particularity suited for espionage, or it could have been that from a very young age, Misao had both attached herself to and idolized him.

He had listened to her report with a Stoic expression, but now he suddenly stood, his long coat swirling around his long legs.

"We're going to spar. I want to see how much ground we've lost while you were away. Gods know you didn't learn anything at that Academy..." He strode out of the house, trusting her to follow in his wake. There was a small courtyard behind the house, but even if there hadn't been, they would still have been in no danger of breaking their cover. Aoshi had taken the time to set up wards of silence and sightlessness on the house as soon as they had arrive; they could do whatever magery they wished and the most conservative of their neighbors would not have been tempted to turn them into the agents of the Orthodoxy.

Aoshi reached the courtyard a few heartbeats ahead of his pupil, and, leaning against one of the walls, seemed as relaxed as he ever got, but the sparse grass growing in the few square feet of earth that made up the courtyard seemed chilled by the passing of a mid-Winter wind. The wind curled around him, caressing his face and ruffling his sable hair in its passing. As his consciousness descended into the workings of the wind, he was aware of everything in the courtyard and its smallest movement. Though his eyes were closed and he remained stone-still as his young pupil joined him in the courtyard, he felt her through his mage-senses as he had never felt anything else. To him, she burned bright as flame, and was as compelling and attractive as if he was a hapless moth. She took a guarded stance at the far end of the yard, only a few feet away, and Aoshi felt almost as if he were a part of her, his awareness was so close to hers. He waited, letting the tension in both of them build as they prepared to once again resume the teaching and learning that they had both missed terribly during her long schooling and undercover work.

His eyes snapped open suddenly, windows into a blizzard, and the wind answered to his command, spinning around her, dragging her long limbs down and attempting to lift her off of the ground. She retaliated immediately, pulling at his hair and jerking his arms with her Fetching gift. If this were a real battle, and her powers augmented with the strength of desperation and fear, Aoshi had no doubt that she could have pulled his arms from their sockets—if he let her, that is. The tall man struck back, freezing the moisture in the air around her so that it surrounded her in a thick, confining cast. She was quick to escape, however, blinking out and reappearing a few feet away. She continued to ghost around the confined space, never remaining in one place for more than a few seconds, while she looked for the best place to insert her next attack.

_She's been keeping up with her practice. . . _Aoshi thought appreciatively, arctic winds whipping around him as he circled to keep his apprentice in sight. _And she hasn't stopped innovating. She must have practiced in thought when she couldn't in reality. _

Just when Aoshi was ready to finish the spar and test how her endurance had grown, she disappeared from sight. This was new—usually her ghosting brought her from one spot to the next immediately, and with his consciousness extended, Aoshi could always tell where she would surface next. This was something different, though. Not only was she nowhere to be seen, the spy-master could not detect her presence anywhere nearby. He quickly reviewed every skill he had known a Spring-mage to possess (and he knew quite a bit about Spring-mages). This sudden, untraceable disappearance was nowhere on the list. His heart clenched painfully. If he had lost her, so soon after she had come back…He shuddered. It couldn't be, it just couldn't. He dove into a deeper trance, the winds around him rushing faster and faster until he resembled the eye of a hurricane. Nothing. There was no trace of her. Oh, gods. . .let it not be true. . .

Misao 'popped' back into existence exactly one meter over her Master's head, glowing with pride over her new trick. As she fell back to earth, she tensed her muscles and squared her hips so that her legs would be driven straight into the tall man's shoulders.

She had fallen half a foot before he recognized her presence, but instead of blocking her, throwing her or attacking outright, his long, strong arms had reached out and caught her as she fell through the air. Too stunned to even move, Misao's azure eyes stared up in wonderment at her teacher, who crushed her small form against his chest. This had. . .never happened before. . .but she would be lying if she had said she hadn't dreamed of it.

"Aoshi-sama. . ."

"Please," he whispered into her hair, "Warn me next time. . ." He held her for a moment more, as if memorizing the feel of her body against his, and then, slowly and gently, set her down on the ground.

And the thrice-damned, frustrating man just walked away, without a look back or a word for the girl whose world he had just changed. In fact, he had perfected his icy, stoic façade to near-perfection. Only someone that had known him for years would have noticed the set of his shoulders and the tension of his neck that betrayed the anguish and doubt he was feeling.

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Kaoru stayed in her grove—and it _was_ hers. She hadn't noticed at first, but now she realized that she knew it like she knew the bumps and the ridges of her favorite pen, that it fit her like a second skin. It was easier to think here, too. Somehow that unreasonable, angry part of her wasn't here, and for the fist time in what felt like ages, she could hear herself think. It was a huge relief. A cold pit she hadn't noticed in her stomach was warmed, and a headache so constant she had forgotten about it was gone. For the first time in what must have been years, she felt comfortable in her own skin. It was blissful. She would have liked to simply relax and enjoy it, but the words that that golden-eyed bas—No. That _Kenshin_ had said was still running circles in her head. She needed to sort it out.

Okay, first and foremost, what was most important to her: had the Academy really put a compulsion on her? She knew it was possible—she had seen the reeducation techniques used on the most stubborn of heretics, and they were fairly gruesome. Was…was that angry voice inside her head the compulsion? Kenshin had said it wouldn't work here, and I'm alone in here for once, so…She was drawing disturbing conclusions.

She found herself becoming angry. It wasn't the unthinking, unseeing anger she had felt under the compulsion, and it most certainly wasn't directed at the Seasonal Mages who had told her about it. No, she was angry with her teachers and Doctrine-leaders, at the Academy. She had trusted them! She had put her faith in what they told her, and they had lied and manipulated her to deepen that belief. She felt violated and sickened…and she wanted it _off_. Everything else would have to wait until she got the dammed compulsion off. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, concentrated, and found herself back in the Mage's library. Kenshin stood by the chair, stretching after being in a cramped position for so long. The sight of him woke the compulsion inside of her. It whispered insidious things about him, and her own purity as well. But now she knew it for what it was, and suddenly it didn't sound all that threatening. She shoved the tinny threats away from her mind, feeling better and better.

"Kenshin?" she said, savoring the unfamiliar word on her tongue and the act of defiance it was to say it. "I…" her throat closed. She couldn't say it! She couldn't turn her back on the faith of her childhood and throw her lot in with strangers! She felt hysteria building inside of her, her eyes growing wide and her breath shallow.

She recognized the voice and shoved it away. So it wasn't going to be as easy as she had thought…But she was going to beat it. It was, after all, only more evidence of just why she needed to leave the Orthodoxy behind. "I need you to take this…c-compulsion…off of me. Please…I feel dirty, and it's getting harder to drown this bloody voice out," The old rage and fear were threatening to take control of her again, and she imposed a block of her own on her hard-won Deltographic skills. If she lost control, she didn't want to have that weapon with her. He reached out to touch her, to comfort her in a motion that seemed as natural as breathing. She was sure it would have worked, normally, but the moment he touched her, the compulsion started screaming and pain shot through her temples. Kenshin seemed to be saying something to her, but she couldn't hear through the rising haze of pain and the roaring in her ears. His face competed with ugly blots across her vision. Everything…hurt, and the voice in her head wasn't remotely human anymore, but damn it, she wasn't going to back down. They had lied to her! They had tricked her and hurt her and she wasn't going to let them do that to her anymore!

She thought she heard herself screaming, but she wasn't sure. The pain was blinding; it wouldn't stop until she gave in, and even with the resolve her anger gave her, she could feel herself crumbling under the pressure on her skull. Cool, strong hands gripped her head; the pain fled from them as if afraid.

"Look at me, Kaoru," a baritone voice pleaded. She obeyed, too shell-shocked to resist. His eyes were at war with themselves, purple and gold vying for her attention. They were quite fascinating, and as she left the pain further and further behind her, she fell into them.

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So this was his new student. He had no doubts that she would join them, after that last cowardly attack from the Orthodoxy. He was seized with a sudden desire to muster his forces and ride out now to wage war on them, just for hurting the girl, but he shook himself free of the suicidal urges. He wasn't going to get involved in the Orthodoxy, there was simply nothing he could do against so powerful an enemy. Better to face the enemies he could win against.

The girl…He looked down at her face, pale and drawn with pain, but recovering. She would be a fine student. The determination was definitely there, and her power was obvious to anyone who knew what to look for. And she was beautiful…He shoved the thought away. He needed to concentrate now. The parasite that was riding in her mind was…disgusting, and he despised the Orthodoxy even more for it. He turned his attention to removing it from her mind. It wasn't easy work for him; mental control wasn't his discipline, nor something he usually enjoyed doing. Most people's minds were muddied, sordid places without focus or drive. Kaoru's was a definite exception. Focus was there in abundance, and something about the clean, supple lines of her thoughts was intensely pleasing to him. There was the filth there, of course, ugly as sin and stinking to his magical consciousness. It wriggled and twisted away from his every attempt to destroy it, even once trying to strike out at him with the same fear and hatred that had controlled his new student for so long. It was hopeless, of course, but it still disgusted him. The kind of unwilling control that these sort of compulsions had over their victims was against everything he stood for, everything that was in him…but then again, Aoshi would have been disgusted by this too.

Finally, her mind was clean. Kenshin paused at the threshold of her mind, gazing back wistfully. He would like to spend more time there, it was true, but that would be wrong. Besides, he was tired and hungry, and sure his body was getting a cramp from staying in one place so long. Hopefully he could return here someday…but that was all in the future; he needed to help her in the now. The young warlord-mage sighed and left the summer glade behind, leaving only a cold breeze to remind her of him. She needed to sleep off the mental anguish she had just been through. They would talk when she felt better.

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AN: Hello again! I have a really good excuse for why this was so late: I was in Turkey. For more information on the trip I'm currently taking (and rambling discussions of why I want to go home,) see my livejournal (link on my author page). There's not much more to say about this chapter, I guess, except that I really love Aoshi. Yup, that's about it…


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Rurouni Kenshin. I'd've made them kiss way sooner.

* * *

As Kaoru slept, a certain strange tension filled the house, centering on its golden-eyed master. It was time to move away from this place and get away from all the threats and pressures the outside world exerted on it. There were, of course, other sources of tension, namely, between the spymaster and his student. Through the hours he waited outside Kaoru's bedroom door, alert to any sign of wakefulness within, he watched the two dance around each other with no little amusement. It was a small house, and many spaces had shared functions. To watch Aoshi attempt to concentrate on his reports while long-limbed Misao bustled about in the kitchen (visible through an open doorway) was priceless. So his spymaster had finally realized exactly how much growing his student had done while away? His well-hidden mischievous streak was already plotting some way to get them together…but he supposed that he should let nature take its course. Aoshi was subtle, and would almost certainly notice any meddling.

He let the idle thought circulate through his head a few more times, then sunk into the deep trance that let him know exactly how Kaoru was faring. She was, of course, still fast asleep—he would have noticed right away if she had woken—but something subtle had changed. She stirred in her sleep, old dreams of loneliness and feeling just plain wrong coming to the surface and marring her pretty face with sadness. Somehow he felt guilty about this, even though he had nothing to do with what she dreamed. Standing up in one smooth motion, he felt his power rising to the surface almost unconsciously. He shoved it back down with a frown—he didn't need to defend this girl, just sooth away a few nightmares. He could do that without his power.

Kaoru, even hag-ridden and obviously exhausted, looked fabulous in bed. Her normal reserve and modesty was abandoned, and with her curvy form twisted into all sorts of shapes under the covers and her silky black hair flowing all over the pillows, she was a sight to behold. Kenshin tried desperately to steer his thoughts towards something that resembled a student-teacher relationship. He sat down on the chair beside her bed, taking one of her hands in his own and sending soothing thoughts through the physical link. In the life of a Mage, nightmares were common. When you lived on the borders of what was possible and what was dreaming, you often saw things that no mortal should see. Kenshin supposed that the tight-knit communities of Mages had sprung up even before their persecution by the Orthodoxy simply because it was easier to deal with the horrors of the world that only Mages could see when one wasn't often alone. He probed her mind gently. She had slept long enough to recover from the trauma, and they still had much to do. Drinking in her languid form once more, he touched her shoulder, clamping down hard on his instinct to make it a caress. What was it about this woman? He was close to waking her, but at the last minute, he reconsidered. She didn't trust him, yet, and it would be bad for that trust he took to waking her up in strange places. He slipped from the room. She already knew and trusted Misao—she could wake his student and tell her to report to him.

* * *

"If you want me to join you, I have some questions I want to ask,"

Kenshin grinned. This was the best new he had gotten in a long time, and the girl delivering it was a sight for sore eyes. She had re-done her hair after sleeping had disheveled it, but her skin was still slightly flushed from her nap. "I'd be pleased to answer anything you ask—but you'll get the same answers and information that I give the rest of the people here. You don't have preferred status yet, I'm afraid." His manner was easy and relaxed, and though he was only a little taller than her, his presence seemed to fill the room. Kaoru thought for a moment, then decided to start with what was most important to her.

"What do you want me for?" She tried to keep her voice steady, but the question came out almost like a cry. Kenshin's heart softened. The poor little thing was obviously confused and distraught.

"Well, you're going to be a very strong mage when you're trained, and eventually you would have started showing those powers. If you had been in the Orthodoxy at that point, you would have been killed. I will _not_," he emphasized the words with a force that made her heart jump, "Let that happen. Of course," he continued, "We do have an ulterior motive. We have a bit of a…internal power struggle, to use the politic phrase, in the mage world. A man by the name of Enishi—Winter-aligned like Aoshi, but considerably creepier," he gave Kaoru a level look, as if daring her to grin. She resisted the temptation. "Enishi has decided that he would make a better leader than our current one. He's a charismatic speaker, brilliant, a powerful mage and has a large following among the people. There's only one problem—he's insane. Obviously, our current leader is opposed to him on many levels. That's where we come in. Our small group has been called Hiko's strong left hand." He paused at the look of confusion on her face. "Hiko's the leader of the Seasonal Mages, and the only male Summer Warrior I know. He's…quite a character. I have a feeling you two will um…hit it off…when you meet each other," Kaoru stared at him as he trailed off. Was he…embarrassed by something? Her mind boggled. "Anyway, the reason we're called his left hand is that we do all the dirty work he can't exactly be seen doing. Assassinations, quashing small rebellions, odd jobs like that. Currently, we're focusing on the Enishi problem, but if you do join us you should anticipate other jobs like it."

It was a lot of information to digest quickly. What stood out the most in Kaoru's mind was that it seemed to be exactly the job she had been trained for, but without the ugly duty of forced conversions. Still, she was confused about one thing.

"But where exactly do I come in? Even if I am a strong mage, why do you want me specifically for this?" Her curiosity was roused.

"For one thing," Kenshin noted, "You have something that none of the rest of us have: Deltography."

"But Misao passed all her tests; she has Deltography as well,"

Kenshin grinned. He was fairly close with Misao, and was extremely proud of her—especially with her most recent mission. "You'd like to think that, wouldn't you? Misao's style of Spring magery is adaptable enough that she made it look like she had Deltography, and apparently she did it well enough so that not even the inquisitors noticed. Still, Deltography isn't the only reason we need you. Through both accident and," a pained look crossed his face. "Design, we have lost every one of the Summer mages in our cadre. For some reason or another, most Summer mages tend to gravitate towards the healing arts." He looked at her with earnest eyes, though somehow seemed to keep his dignity intact. "Kaoru, I…_we_ need you. Enishi's a Winter, he's most vulnerable to Summer magic—but he managed to kill off every last Summer we have!" Kaoru sensed something in him, dark and angry, flickering beneath the surface of his eyes. He would avenge those deaths if he could, and be ruthless and unforgiving. So why wasn't she scared? She took a deep breath, ready to make the plunge.

"Kenshin…" She glanced down at her lap, as if she could find the answer in her folded hands, then in one swift motion, looked the mage straight in the eye. Burning blue met amber, and, for that moment at least, all seemed right with the world. "I'd be honored to join you."

* * *

Kaoru's acceptance was a catalyst to the entire household. It was time to move out of such unprotected territory and get back to their own base. Kenshin, at the center of the organizational whirlwind, had very little time for anyone that wasn't involved in the packing, but Kaoru wasn't too distressed. She, in fact, had a whirlwind of her own.

"Kaoru!" Misao squealed. "I'm so glad that you decided to join us! You'll like it with us, I just know it. The keep is fantastic; I can't wait to go home, and the lessons are so much fun—nothing like the boring old lectures at the Academy,"

Kaoru smiled indulgently at her friend. One of the good points of just having arrived was not having to pack a month's worth of clothing and sundries. Because they didn't have as much to worry about, Misao and Kaoru had been asked to cook dinner. The school kitchens had run with student help, and Misao knew her friend well. Kaoru was chopping vegetables. No one could say that she wasn't good with sharp objects—or, at least, they couldn't say it twice. Between simmering, sautéing and boiling, Misao was quite busy. Still, she managed to find the presence of mind to chat with Kaoru as she cooked. She had the advantage of being able to "pop" objects across the room with her power, even to the extent of fetching fried fish directly from the pan onto the serving plate. When she noticed Kaoru staring, the third time she did it, she just grinned and winked.

"You only really think about using magic for big things, don't you? At least, I know that's what they taught us at the Academy. I guess that when you live among mages, and everybody has some sort of skill or another, it's just natural to use your magic in everyday life—especially when you're has harried as I am!" And she was flying around the kitchen again, jet-black braid snapping behind her like a whip. Kaoru could only shake her head and sigh at her friend's inexhaustible energy.

* * *

AN: Okay, no cliffhanger ending this time. Sorry! Hmm…looking back, it wasn't a very action-packed _chapter_. I promise they'll be more action next time. Anyway, thanks for reading, and we'll see you next time on Spring, Winter, Summer, Fall! 


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin isn't mine, but I could do a better job than whoever did the Christian Arc.

* * *

The frantic pace of the day before had been worth it. Though the entire household had stopped all their work to sit down to a leisurely supper together, and the muffled sounds of packing (as well as other strange noises) had continued far into the night, Misao still woke Kaoru before dawn with a mug of sweet tea and a packet of bread and cheese. For once, the bubbly girl looked exhausted. When Kaoru saw her pale, drawn face, one look from her was enough to provoke an explanation.

"We transferred the excess baggage back to the Keep last night," she whispered, careful not to wake the two young apprentices that Kaoru was sharing a room with. "I was one of the helpers—my "sending" gift, you know? I was just lucky that Aoshi was there to help with the brute-strength aspect of the magic, I'm just not that strong yet…" She realized she was babbling. "Anyway, we've got to get going. Sano brought the horses in from the forest." She padded over to the other beds, swigging her lukewarm tea. Kaoru rolled out of bed—she _hated_ mornings—and pulled on the travel clothes that had been set out for her. If she had been any more aware, the deep blue tunic and creamy trousers would have shocked her, but as it was she simply pulled the soft, homespun clothes over her head. Buckling a belt snugly around her trim waist and tossing a forest-colored cloak around her shoulders, she was halfway out of the room before she realized a leather rucksack had been prepared for her and waited at the foot of her bed. She grabbed it and continued shuffling out of her room.

The rest of the group was in the courtyard behind the house, each person wearing a rucksack identical to her own. She could spot Misao and her icy mentor, and Kenshin's bright hair was visible on the other side of a dappled horse. Megumi, the doctor she had spoken with at supper, was packing rolls of bandages and pots of ointment into a pair of saddlebags. Yahiko and Tsubame, the two youngest members of the group, Fall and Spring respectively, were practicing their lessons by juggling small balls of light between their outstretched hands. Finally, a tall, rough-looking man she had not seen before was leading horses into the spacious courtyard. He had strange, spiky hair held away from his face with a scarlet ribbon, and his grin seemed feral and wild. In all of this chaos, Misao was the one to notice her first, and, seemingly recovered from her exhaustion, scampered over to lead her into the center. She came face to face with a horse, nearly bumping into it. Luckily, the horse was a placid old mare that didn't startle.

"Have you ever ridden before, Kaoru?" her friend asked, patting the horse on the nose affectionately. It sneezed at her. Kaoru eyed the animal nervously. The teeth were huge!

"Umm…no," she said hesitantly. "In fact, I think I'll just walk…" She began backing away from the horse.

"Oh, no, you can't do that," Misao said breezily. "Anyway, Specter of Immanent Doom is an absolute sweetheart!" It took Kaoru a minute to realize that Misao was talking about the horse.

"Specter of…Misao, just what kind of horse are you trying to give me?" She was nearly wailing. Forget hostile mages taking over her mind, this horse was truly terrifying!

"Jeeze, Kaoru, relax…Sano over there," she pointed at the rough looking man. "He's the one that named all the horses. He's bloody minded. I'm riding Compound Fracture and Aoshi, though he won't call him by his proper name, is riding Crotch Rocket." She saw Kaoru's mystified expression. "Sano was, ah…very taken with a fireworks display, and managed to learn all the terminology. Apparently it's something that goes 'boom' and makes bright lights. Anyway, here's the mounting block! Alley oop!" And in a dizzying whirl of limbs, Kaoru was thumping into the saddle. She tensed for the bucking, kicking and biting she knew would come, but the grey mare simply whickered and bent her neck to crop at the sparse grass. Kaoru had just started to relax when Kenshin, seated on a gangly roan stallion, clucked softly. All of the horses, including her own, ambled into motion behind him.

It was strange to right through the modern city on horseback, creeping out like thieves (which, she supposed, they were) at the break of dawn, dressed in rough, simple clothes that would fit more in the previous century. Misao rode beside her, giving her pointers on controlling her horse (who was called Darla affectionately, 'Specter of Impending Doom' being too much of a mouthful), and telling her about the Keep they were headed to. The morning passed pleasantly, with Kaoru relaxing to the sway of the horse and beginning to learn how to maneuver the beleaguered beast. It was lucky she was a fast learner, because around midmorning, Kenshin sent word down the line of horses that Kaoru should join him at the head of the group. With no small amount of trepidation, Kaoru wheeled out of the loose group and attempted to trot up to the front of the group. The Mages themselves schooled their features expertly to keep from laughing at the city-breed girl, but she was _sure_ that the horses were laughing at her. The burning embarrassment from her lack of skill, coupled with her nervousness around the leader of the mages, had her pale and wide-eyed as she joined him at the front. She noticed Aoshi wheeling back to take her place beside Misao, but her eyes were only for Kenshin. He was a striking sight in the morning sun, and though his deep blue shirt was of the same archaic cut as Kaoru's, he made it look natural and elegant. His hair was swept up into a high tail and tied tightly with a thin strip of leather, and the early sun seemed to linger on it, luxuriating in the color and bringing out every fiery highlight. He wore nobility and power like a second skin, and Kaoru was almost afraid to be the focus of his attention. Of course, he noticed her. He noticed everything.

"Ah, good morning, Miss Kaoru," he said politely, nodding his head in a half bow. Some trick of the light had turned his eyes to a deep lavender, and somehow that gaze was easier to bear than the molten gold of the day before. She mumbled something about an early morning rather than a good morning, and awkwardly lapsed into silence once again. She would be more than content to slip back beside Misao, but a glance behind her showed her friend deeply entranced in a mage-lesson. Not only did she not want to disturb her, but she was still vaguely unsettled by the idea of magic.

"Miss Kaoru, I was hoping we could take this opportunity to begin your lessons," he said nonchalantly. "After all, traveling cross-country can be tedious…" He looked at her expectantly.

"You're to be my teacher?" she spluttered nervously. "But, surely…you're the lord of the Keep, you must have better things to do than instruct me, and I'm sure to be a slow learner, and…" she trailed off, her face burning. She couldn't face this man every day, he would drive her crazy! Still, he was undeterred, and turned on her with slightly confused eyes.

"Of course I'm to be your teacher. We have no Summer mages, and a Fall mage is the best option to teach you quickly. Of course, there's also the tradition of the mage being taught by the one who discovers her, particularly in cases where they are of compatible seasons. I thought we could begin your lessons now?" His voice was light, but Kaoru could tell that he would not be deterred. "Besides," he continued, "You need a Warrior's training, and since Aoshi simply can't train a Summer properly, I am your only option," He sounded faintly pleased with this. Kaoru felt like storming off and glowering at the infuriating man behind her bangs, but not only was that simply not done to a lord of any sort, even a mage-lord, it was also extremely difficult to accomplish on horseback.

"If there's no other teacher, my lord, I suppose that I must beg you to surrender some of your precious time in my instruction," she said smoothly. Deltographers were supposed to flow in the highest levels of society, and though she had despised her etiquette classes, she grudgingly thanked her teacher mentally…but stopped when Kenshin started chuckling under his breath. Was she really that obvious? The lord quickly sobered, gold filtering through the violet of his eyes.

"Miss Kaoru, there is something we Warriors all must know, before we begin our teaching." His voice took on a distant tone, and he looked down the road as if seeing back through the years. "There is something in us…that is profoundly Other. There is something in us that, when freed, will fight mercilessly, wildly, and…joyfully." He looked over at her with haunted eyes. "You will fight. It may be in defense of your own life, in defense of the lives of others, it may be for an ideal, for love, for a nation…I don't know what will call it out in you. But you will fight, and exult in the blood of your enemies." Kaoru stared at him, shocked. Her face was pale, and her lower lip was savaged by her teeth. She looked the very image of the pure young maiden, shocked by the older, roguish rake of a soldier, but he could see something flickering in her eyes, shards of silver, answering his call. She shivered, and the spell cast by his words was broken. She stared at him dumbly, barely feeling the horse shift under her, but feeling something struggling in her breast. There was something in there, striving to get free, to get what it wanted and needed.

"I…you…What is happening to me?" she whispered, the words barely making it out of her dry mouth.

"That's not something you need to worry about quite yet, Miss Kaoru," he said, stuffing the glimpses of his other self back into the deepest cellars of his mind. "Now you need to concentrate on learning your magic,"

* * *

He was amazed. It had been a stretch to mention what being a Warrior was to her, who had just joined their ranks. He was not sure he would have tried to explain it to Misao, even, though the girl had lived with them practically since her birth. Still, he had not been disappointed. To already see the hints of what she would be, so early…she would be magnificent. Any doubts he had about the girl, which were few and far between, had been relieved by the flickering of feral silver in her eyes. She wouldn't gain her potential for a while yet, though…and he must teach her.

"Seasonal magery isn't anything like Deltography. Learn that now and get over it," his voice took on the stern, but kind, tone of a born teacher. "You have no specific cantrips to learn, no spells, arcane words; you need nothing besides your own will and strength." He glanced over at her. Though she was still faintly pale, she appeared to be listening with interest to his lesson. "Seasonal magic is…instinctual. That's why not everyone can learn it, why it's a rare skill. When you use it, you tap into a deeper level of yourself that some people just don't have. Your power moves through you and directs your will, and as long as you have your goal clearly visualized, your will sharpened, and enough strength to do the job, nearly anything is possible. Some things," he admitted, "Do take a bit of a knack, and every Season has its own personal strength, but, in a pinch, you can work another Season's magic. Any questions yet?"

Something occurred to her, so simple and basic that she knew she should have asked it long before. "Kenshin, you've never told me exactly what exactly the specialization of Fall mages is…"

He looked over at her, considering her silently for a moment. "I did that for a reason, Miss Kaoru. You should know that the powers of a Fall mage are the most closely tied to those of a Warrior. Fall magic is wild and uncontrolled. It is tied in closer to the woods and the wilds than any other magic. I can call animals to my hand, to fight for me, even. At some level, I can become an animal…but I don't often do that. It's hard to describe, but when we stop for the night…" he hesitated. He was about to make an offer he had never made before, never even considered making. "When we stop for the night, if you wish, I will let you into my mind, the way I went into yours to speak with you." For some reason, he desperately wanted her to accept. "That would give you a better idea of Fall magic, almost better even than a demonstration," he glanced over at her, his strange eyes attempting to see into her soul. Kaoru blushed. No man had ever paid attention to her before, at least, not as a woman. She had always simply been an intellect or a talented Deltographer…but, she supposed, she had never been anything other than an intellect or a talented Deltographer before.

"I think I'd like that," she said softly, her hands clenching around the reins. Inside, she was torn between emotions. There was fear of this man, fear of the learning she knew she needed, but at the same time there was a wild excitement surging through her veins. The road was stretched out in front of her like a ribbon from a peddler's pack, and the wind in the trees smelled like cool water. It wasn't proper, and it certainly wasn't normal, but something in her wanted to dig her heels into her horse's sides and take off down the road, reveling in the wind and the sun and the earth. Instead, she shifted in the saddle, sitting up a little straighter and looked Kenshin in the eye. "Tonight, then?"

* * *

AN: Well, this is certainly longer…and though still not much is happening, I like it much better than the last chapter (which I'm considering revising anyway). I hope this satisfies all of you that want to know what exactly Fall mages do, but I'm still holding a little back. I promise, the first Fall fight scene should be pretty fun!

Oh, yes…this is the last update from Malta. My flight goes out on Wednesday quite early, but I'm not complaining. I'm quite ready to get back to the states after over four months abroad.

See you all next time!


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin isn't mine. I am only borrowing them and giving them sparkly fun powers.

* * *

Night fell softly like velvet over the landscape before they stopped, but Kaoru barely noticed. She was sore, tired, more than a little sick of being jostled and her legs felt like they were going to fall off, but the same fey mood that had caught her earlier had only become stronger as the night wrapped the land in dark arms. The sunset had been fantastic, with wings of indigo and scarlet sweeping over the sky, and now all but the faintest traces of the sun had faded below the horizon. They were still ambling over the wide prairie, but Kaoru could see the dark smudge of forest on the horizon. The campsite that Kenshin had eventually picked was little more than a hillock on the wide, flat plains, but it gave them a fine view of the surrounding countryside. General camp duties were something new to Kaoru, since it was always assumed that the graduates of the Academy could stay in hostels or inns. Misao had told Megumi enough about her that Kaoru wasn't going anywhere near the cook-fire, and since she didn't have the skills or subtleties to hunt for game or set the wards around the camp, the horse-master, Sano, showed her how to curry the mounts, then stayed to help her complete the long job. Kaoru, by the time she was finished with the horses and had helped get them water and feed, was barely able to stagger back to the campsite, where she was grateful that Megumi and Misao had already pulled together a traveler's stew over a campfire. The fire itself was strange--instead of acrid smoke it released a gentle perfume, and though it was placed on top of a few small logs, she got the feeling that they were just window-dressing, and the fire was burning up something else entirely. She glanced around the camp, and, seeing Kenshin leaning up against his saddle and packs, she began to cross over to the far side of the fire. She wanted to avoid the uncanny man. However, as soon as she took another step, his eyes flashed open and caught hers. She wouldn't escape him that easily.

"Miss Kaoru, I believe that we had scheduled a bit of a lesson for you tonight?" A half-smile played on the man's lips, and while he was meeting her eyes frankly, Kaoru just knew that he was hiding something from her.

"Well, I'm feeling a bit tired…" she trailed off as he stood, taking her hand, and sitting back down. It was, of course, natural for her to follow him down to the loamy turf.

"Surely you're not too tired for one simple exercise," he said, and his voice was oil and honey, skipping her brain and encircling her legs and arms, pulling her closer, into a posture of attentive listening, as if he had the wisdom of the ages to impart. He was fascinating, but she hated him for what he could do to her without even trying. "Now, entering someone's mind is not to difficult, especially if both of the people are mages, but only if both participants are willing. When I entered your mind earlier, you were not willing, but it was the only way that I could speak with you without running afoul of that compulsion that was put on you--that's what we had to use the opium, and I still feel…rather guilty about resorting to those tactics." Kenshin was showing his discomfort, though Kaoru was certain he could have masked it. A penance, for her sake? She was sure he hated to show weakness like that. "Now, I said I would teach you how to enter someone's mind willingly, didn't I?"

The lessoning was quick, and easy, for linking minds with another Seasonal Mage seemed to be mostly instinct for one born with mage-gifts. It was no more than a simple exchange of invitation and acceptance, then what Kaoru thought of "clasping hands" made of magical energy. In fact, it was almost disturbingly easy to slip into Kenshin's mind.

* * *

Kaoru 'arrived' in Kenshin's mind before he did, and was startled by the similarity that their minds showed. The most glaring difference was that the trees of Kenshin's forest were all painted in the glorious colors of high autumn, rather than the lush green of Kaoru's mind. An achingly blue sky arched above her, and the faintest impression of a full harvest moon hovered in the corner of her eye. Kaoru took all these things in, drinking down the rich colors and the crisp scent of the wind and the leaves. As she was peering deeper into the recesses of Kenshin's mind, trying to see through the dense foliage of the forest, her eye caught something that had definitely not been in her mind. Stark, slate-grey walls reared up through the trees, their ramparts thrusting up out of the treetops. The rest of the landscape was vibrant, but these stern battlements were harsh and cold in a way that brooked no resistance. Caught with childlike fascination, Kaoru took a step closer, then another, until she was at the edge of the glade. She was ready to start pushing through the underbrush to explore those forbidding walls, and perhaps even find a gate, when Kenshin appeared at her elbow.

"I apologize, Miss Kaoru," he said lightly. "Aoshi required one last thing of me before your lesson." His hair was the same color as the brightest of the trees, Kaoru thought. "Now, the most difficult part of the lesson is accomplished--would you care to take a stroll through this, if I may say it, lovely park?"

"Wait, Kenshin…" She colored a little as she realized how familiar and informal she must sound, but she really didn't know what else to call him. The red-headed enigma, however, simply looked satisfied as a cat curled up around a saucer of cream. Kaoru did her best to stifle the reactions her body had to that satisfied look. "What are those walls? I know it's your mind…so why would there be parts of it walled off? You…" She trailed off awkwardly. Kenshin stiffened, and when he responded, his voice had lost none of its rich, smooth quality, but it seemed like something integral was missing that left his words hollow. The satisfied look was so far gone that it seemed like Kaoru had merely imagined it.

"I'm afraid that I can't tell you that, Miss Kaoru." He looked straight through her, his eyes laying her soul bare for him. Something wild-seeming in him was measuring her for malice, and it left her shaking. "I told you that there were things in me that were neither proper nor seemly, and I do not think it right for them to be thrust upon you the moment you enter my mind." The suspicious look left his eyes as he offered his arm to her, but through the tour, Kaoru couldn't shake the feeling that she was being tested, and it was extremely uncomfortable. As soon as she could, she pleaded exhaustion and slipped out of Kenshin's mind, seeking refuge in her bedroll at Misao's side. The younger girl was already asleep, or feigning it, but Kaoru wasn't in the mood for companionship. She curled up on the ground, remembering her dormitory bed wistfully--something she thought she never would never do. Though the thing had been narrow, hard and lumpy, it was never quite _this_ hard, and never made her think that a thousand miles of cold and damp were all trying to crowd into her sleeping gear. She hated the cold and damp.

Her bed at school never had roots sticking up out of the mattress, for that matter. Or sticks…well, except for that one time, and that had been Misao's fault. She felt an ant crawl up her leg, and shuddered. There hadn't been bugs, either. Still, it was the best she was going to get, so she might as well relax and try to get some sleep. Enjoying this was beyond her. Her stubbornness would have to get her through one uncomfortable night, and hopefully the beds at the Keep would be more comfortable. Strangely, though, the longer she lay on the cold, uncomfortable ground, the less cold and uncomfortable it became. A sweet, spicy scent wafted past, and she curled her fingers in the soft, springy grass. She was almost completely asleep before Aoshi and Kenshin jolted her back awake.

She was only aware of them when Kenshin stooped down near her head to examine the grass. She was still groggy from exhaustion, and could only wonder stupidly what was so interesting about the grass, until she noticed the darker green splotch spreading out from around her body. From there, it wasn't too much of a stretch to connect the grass to her own magic, though it was decidedly strange to think that she had created grass unconsciously.

"Kenshin…" Aoshi's voice was both cold and dry, and Kaoru thought she would be annoyed if she were more awake. "Your student seems to be leaking. Do you think that you can control her, or do I need to put a freeze on her powers? We are traveling through…sensitive territory." Kaoru couldn't see well in the gloom, but she thought Kenshin was grinning.

"Aoshi, I think I'll remind you that your student first showed her power by stealing not only three of Saitou's best maps, but also his favorite lighter, and that we only found out about all of it when she set one of the maps on fire because 'fire is sparkly!'." Kenshin smiled at her and led Aoshi away, chuckling softly. Kaoru went to sleep confused.

* * *

Authors Notes: Argh. Just…argh. I'm so sorry that it took me this long to get another chapter written. I was going through one of those phases where you keep thinking that "nothing I write is any good, so I just shouldn't write and hope no one notices". I know, it's stupid, but it's really hard to write with an attitude like that. Anyway, I did my best to force it out, and I've got a much better sense of exactly where I'm going with all of this. I hope y'all like Enishi, because he's certainly my favorite sociopath. I'll do my best to get some writing done over camp, but you all know what happens when I make promises. Until next time (whenever that may be), have fun and good reading. 


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin. I could have come up with something much better than the Christian Arc (though it might have involved Arthurian legend!).

* * *

The fact that the Keep was not, in fact, a Keep, became immediately clear as she rounded the last bend. Instead of the stalwart, stark fortress she was expecting, an open and airy manse spread out before her, resting on a wide green sward of lawn, and beyond the high, peaked roof she could see the tips of oaks, pines and birches that made up the deep forest they had just traveled through. She thought she could hear the faint sound of a brook running near the path. The house was lovely--but it couldn't be the Keep, could it? This was probably just a stop along the way. She nudged Misao, who was riding beside her.

"Misao?" Her friend jerked out of her reverie and glanced up at the mansion.

"Oh, wonderful! We're home!" A wide grin broke out on her face. "I know that the Academy was like home to you, Kao, but I've always missed the place where I grew up.

Kaoru didn't trust Misao enough anymore to air her feelings on the subject, which, frankly, still creeped her out, so she changed the subject. "But…Misao…this isn't a Keep,"

"Oh! You weren't here for the joke behind that, were you?" She giggled. "Kenshin was a prodigy in the military, and so was Aoshi--but mostly in things I can't talk about--anyway, they were officially given a title and land, but the King didn't want either of them tied up with a District and all the business that goes with it--which would basically be peasants worried about weather for farming and petty land disputes--since unofficially he was setting them up to be his left hand. So, they got this place, which no one would bother to invade, doesn't need much in the way of servants, and, frankly, is a welcome haven. Of course, Saitoh, that wolfy bastard, teased them forever about being given such a stalwart keep. For some reason, the name stuck,"

"That makes sense," Kaoru murmured, and lapsed back into silence for the rest of the short trip to the manse.

The horses were collected by waiting grooms, and they left their rucksacks just inside the door. The entrance hallway was impressive, with the ceiling rising up through the three floors of the house. High windows poured sunlight into the hall and highlighted old and faded battle banners. The faded glory the room implied brought every fantastical novel Kaoru had ever snuck into her dorm to mind. While she stood there gawking, the Seasonal Mages were milling around her. Quickly, Misao grabbed her arm and led her out of the hall and through a myriad of slightly more modern rooms and up a few twisting staircases. Eventually, they arrived in a fairly small room. The walls were painted a rich, bright blue, while the hardwood floor was a blonde wood. The thickly woven, red as blood rag rug matched her curtains and bedspread. A simple desk stood in one corner, and a small but sturdily-made armoire stood across from the windows.

"Here's your room," Misao said. "I know its hard to find, but you'll get used to it--the Keep is such a maze, I'm surprised I still remember my way around it! Anyway, that's my room, there." She pointed at another door across the common room. "This suite of rooms is just for female trainees who are too old for the crèche. Right now it's just you, me, and Tsubame. Umm…The bathroom's down the hall, and there should be some hot water at this time of day--there are some clean dresses in your closet, they're free-size and should fit. Hopefully, we'll both get measured in a day or two.

"Are you planning on taking a bath too?" Kaoru asked lightly, but really hoping for a little privacy, for once.

"Actually, I have to check in with Aoshi about some lessons, and lucky me drew cooking duties again, so I'll have to grab a really quick one later." She sniffed her long braid. "Urk. I still smell like a campfire. Tsubame should be by in an hour and a half or so to show you to dinner--I've got to run--see you in a bit!" And she was off, trotting down the hallway.

Kaoru returned to her room slowly, as if in a daze, and selected a dress at random from her armoire. The dusky blue material was soft and worked with dark green vines around the collar and cuffs. She padded to the bathroom, turned on the water, set aside her dusty traveling clothes gratefully, and sank into the water as quickly as she could, but not before she set heavy Deltographic wards on the door. Finally, bolted away from the people she still didn't trust, she could relax. She let herself enjoy the pure pleasure that was hot water and cleanliness for a while, but her mind was too wound up to stay away from plotting for long. She wasn't terribly worried. These mages weren't particularly bright, or they wouldn't have put her in a position of trust like this or told her everything they already had. She was also valuable to them, which reinforced her own safety. They would not have bothered obtaining a fully-trained Deltographer straight from the Academy if they hadn't needed her specifically--but why did they need her? They had other girls that fit her profile--why waste Misao where she could have easily been caught and killed when she could have done what Kaoru was to do?

She toyed with the surface of the water. She didn't know why she was needed, and it bothered her. She could be used as a sacrifice in some horrible blood-rite, for all that she knew! And, after all, her loyalty lay with the Dean. Though this wasn't her mission, she was sure that he would appreciate knowing more about the political structure of the Mage's government, and especially the location of this manse that was the home of the Left Hand group.

Of course…the Academy had brainwashed her, compelled her very mind (it occurred to Kaoru that the brainwashing could be the source of the strange 'attacks' that had caused Misao to be her keeper in the first place). But she had only the Mage's word when it came to that. Kenshin could have removed something else entirely from her mind while she was drugged. Kaoru surged up out of the water, goose bumps forming immediately, and wrapped herself in a long, thick towel. The mages certainly didn't deprive themselves of any luxury! Her thick hair, though blissfully clean, was still sopping wet, and she didn't want to drip while spying, so she carefully set the Deltographic parameters she wanted for water extraction, leaving her roots alone. Pull water from your scalp and you got dandruff, pull it from your brain and you died. The resulting ball of water floating above her palm she sprinkled in the little houseplant sitting in the corner, toweled her roots and braided her hair in the same severe braid around her crown, and slipped the loose dress over her head. After belting the sash to make her look as proper as possible--nearly impossible in the outlandish costume--she began weaving true invisibility around herself. She thought longingly for a moment of her particular brand of see-me-not, which merely made the eye turn away and the mind disregard, but decided against it. She had no idea how much that spymaster could perceive, and she didn't want to take chances with what could be her life. When it was finished, she ghosted out of the bathroom and down the hallway Misao had taken. She wasn't such a poor spy that she couldn't memorize a path she had taken through a house. That and rudimentary life force sensing should lead her somewhere interesting.

It was always more than a little disconcerting to walk around invisible (especially on stairs), but she had done it before, back at the Academy, before she learned her see-me-not trick. She found her way around much more quickly than she had thought she would. The tracking spell she was using was merely supposed to tell her where people were, but these mages burned brighter than anyone she had ever seen this way--so bright that she was getting personality indicators and even thoughts. The sensory overload was nearly painful, so she lessened the power to the spell until she could see again. It was no surprise to her that Kenshin burned the brightest, or that Aoshi came close behind. They were closeted in what seemed like a conference room, with the door shut and locked by more than iron. Still, it wasn't warded against Deltography, so she pinched off a bit of the sound of their voices and routed it directly to her ears.

"…you've got your prize now," Aoshi's voice came through, clear and cold. "When are you going to tell her the full story?"

Kaoru's heart beat faster, and she pulled her knees to her chest in an attempt to calm her fear and excitement.

"I was planning full disclosure once we got here," Kenshin replied. "We didn't have enough time for any sort of private discussion on the trail, and there was enough for her to adjust to in the safe house."

"What are you going to tell her about Enishi? Do we trust her enough to tell her the full story on that?"

"No." Kenshin's voice was flat and cold. Kaoru would have been hurt if he wasn't right. "I don't trust her. Even though we removed the compulsion from her, her loyalty still lies with the Republic and the Academy. If she could reverse loyalties that easily, I would trust her even less--but there's no way in hell I'm sending her into Enishi's holdings uninformed. I'm thinking that if she's a quick study--as Misao's reports have shown--then we can get her out of here in a month, and under Saitoh's eye. All we have to do is make sure that no one associates her with us and that she gets the training that she needs."

Kaoru could practically hear Aoshi's nod, with all the weight it held, and she was sure that the discussion was over. She scrambled to her Invisible feet and padded away as quickly as she could without making a sound, holding her loose skirt up so it wouldn't rustle, on the grounds that it wasn't immodest if she was invisible. Once she had traced her way carefully back to her room, she let the Deltography drop. She flopped back onto her bed, and rested there, seemingly inert, but her mind was racing the entire time. They needed her--she had confirmed that much. Kenshin had mentioned a man named Saitoh, as had Misao. Kaoru suspected he was their…well, there wasn't quite a word for it, but "person launderer" came to mind. She didn't think she would be used for any sort of virgin sacrifice, as they were going to bother to inform her of her situation. If Misao had been reporting back her specific talents and she was going to be dropped into the court of someone they considered an enemy, she suspected she would be playing her spy role there, too. That suited her just fine, as she would have an excuse to spy there as well, and she could report back to the Dean information on the victor. She was also going to be glad to get away from Kenshin. He was entirely too attractive to her, and if she developed feelings for him, she could compromise the mission. She stood up, shook out her full skirts, and retied her sash. If she was any judge of time, Tsubame would be here in a few minutes.

Her sense of timing was accurate, but instead of Tsubame, Misao showed up, jolting her heart rate back as high as it had been. Had she been caught? But no. Misao had traded her cooking duties with Tsubame so that she could have a break. Her friend (there was no use denying it, even if she was squeamish about it) looked more than a little bedraggled, with stray wisps coming free from her long braid and her pale cheeks flushed with exercise. She stopped for a moment to rebraid her hair and chat. It was so like the Academy that a painful homesickness swept through Kaoru--but she hid it, chattering brightly when all she wanted to do was curl up and cry. It was weakness, and as much as she loved her friend, she wouldn't betray a single weakness in her presence.

Soon they left for dinner, Kaoru trailing after Misao as if she wasn't sure of the way. Dinner was more formal than she had expected, and many of the table customs were slightly different, but she muddled through. The food was quite good, though several of the spices were unfamiliar, and the dishes often had a sweet, tangy taste where she expected savory. Kaoru remained quiet and still, speaking only when spoken to and soaking up information like a sponge. There wasn't anything technically valuable, but it was amazing how much a spy could learn from average group dynamics. These people, however, confounded Kaoru's best efforts to determine who was powerful and who was unimportant. The seating arrangements were a motley thing, and shook up all of Kaoru's expectations. The table itself was a large, round one, throwing away "pride of place" clues. Kenshin and Aoshi sat apart with Aoshi sitting by Misao and monitoring her practical lesson--performing all mealtime tasks without her hands. Misao was completing the lesson admirably, if a little slowly. Kaoru guessed she was developing finesse and control. Kenshin was, of all things, sitting between the cook and the youngest student, Tae and Tsubame, respectively, and listening interestedly to a story of a low-level kitchen fire. It was baffling. People in power shouldn't act like that! It went against everything that she knew. Kaoru continued her brooding for the rest of the night.

* * *

Author's Notes: Well, now. Another chapter, and just a few months in between. Rawr, I need to get better at this whole "update schedual" thing, don't I? No promises as to when the next chapter will be out, as they seem to come faster that way. I'm sooo dysfunctional! Anyway, as an added bonus, I have received a beauteous omake from my beloved beta reader Torikkusuta. I found it amusing, and obtained her permission to post it here. As thanks for this pretty lil' thing, she gets A Dangerous Man who is also Cuddly.

Spring, Winter, Summer, Fall: An Omake

By Torikkusuta

Based off Thistescratch's idea

The small group of seasonal mages had been on the road for several days, and Kaoru's lessons were moving along rapidly. Admittedly, most of the lessons had been a general theory of how a seasonal mage's powers worked. But today was THE BIG DAY. Today was Kaoru's first practical lesson.

The group had stopped for their evening meal, which was accompanied by the typical(ish) arguments between Kaoru and the young mage Yahiko. From the moment they had met, they had bickered back and forth like siblings. Poor Kenshin often found himself in the role of peacemaker during these escapades—usually because everyone else was laughing so hard they couldn't breathe.

The sun was starting to set when Kenshin beckoned to Kaoru, ready to begin the evening's lessons. They walked a little way farther into the woods to find a clearing in which they could begin working.

"Now, Miss Kaoru," Kenshin began, indicating that Kaoru should take a seat, "we shall begin a few quick exercises, mostly in attack and defense."

"Erm, Kenshin? I don't know any spells for defense, unless you count Deltography," Kaoru said, wondering not for the first time why she had agreed to take these lessons.

"We've been over this, " Kenshin said. "All you need to do is concentrate, and we should see some results. Now, begin."

They waited in silence as the minutes crawled by. Feeling awkward, Kaoru said, "This is going to sound weird, but I don't really want to attack you. This is hard."

"Do you really need a reason to strike out at someone?" Kenshin asked, sounding truly curious.

Kaoru nodded in the affirmative. Kenshin thought for a moment longer, and then came up with a rather devious idea. Even if it didn't work, it was certain to be amusing. He feigned thoughtfulness for a moment longer, and then said, "What was it Yahiko called you at dinner tonight, Miss Kaoru? Busu, was it?"

Kaoru almost got up at that, wanting to smack that infuriating man upside the head.

"No, don't get up. Hold that anger, and focus it," Kenshin said.

Kaoru sat back and focused. 'I'd like to smack him. Or fry him. That would work, too ,' she thought, her anger building like the heat of the noontide sun.

"Ow! Um, ow, Miss Kaoru, could you stop focusing please?" Kenshin asked after a few minutes, sounding pained.

Kaoru's concentration broke, and she slowly opened her eyes. The sight that greeted her was most peculiar. Kenshin was wearing a decidedly uncomfortable look. Upon closer examination, the source of his discomfort became apparent. Every inch of exposed skin was a stunning shade of scarlet, usually only achieved by getting particularly bad sunburn. In fact, a few spots looked like they were beginning to blister.

"Oh, Kenshin! I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" Kaoru asked, sounding truly concerned.

"No, it's okay. I'm sure Megumi will have something for it."

"Or you could have Aoshi freeze you," Kaoru muttered under her breath.

"What?"

"Nothing"

"Right. Why don't we head back, now that we have an idea of where your skills lie." With that, Kenshin gingerly got up, and began to lead the way back to the main camp. As they walked down the quickly darkening path, Kaoru took a glance at her sun burnt teacher and had to suppress a giggle. Kenshin looked at her questioningly.

"It's just…your sunburn really clashes with your hair," Kaoru said, choking on her laughter. At Kenshin's puzzled look, she lost it completely, and sat down because she could hardly breathe for laughing.

Once she had calmed sufficiently, they continued in relative silence until they reached the camp. Then they parted ways, Kaoru off to tell Misao about her lesson, and Kenshin to get aloe from Megumi.

As Kenshin gingerly made his way to the healer's tent, he passed Yahiko. Yahiko stopped the older man and asked, "Kenshin, what happened to you?"

"Yahiko, do yourself a favor," Kenshin said to the young mage. "Don't call Kaoru busu any more."

Yahiko watched wide eyed as Kenshin walked off, and he vowed to stay on Kaoru's good side, at least until he could learn to block Kaoru's newfound talent.

fin


End file.
